making it our own

I love craft books but I rarely if ever make anything exactly as a tutorial shows. I think that's the case for most everyone, right?

Interestingly I have several sewing books that I rarely use but love skimming through. I finally got from looking to making with the prodding of my little C (she's pretty persistent!). So instead of getting to work on my 3D rosette idea I spent the weekend finishing a doll that I had started months ago.

The idea started with Margot a topsy-turvy doll from the awesome Wee Wonderfuls by Hillary Lang. We made the opposite end of the doll in the yellow dress that's on the cover. But instead of making her with two heads (at the request of the now owner) I used the bottom part of the body of another doll in the book. Instead of stitching the dress on her she has a removable dress (more sewing gymnastics for me), a shorter skirt and thankfully no collar. As you can see I had no purple thread handy (we used fabric that we had on hand) and C said she didn't care as long as it "looked pretty" and pink thread fit the bill. I got in a little crochet (finally) with the shoes.

So now I have a happy camper (who made a new dress today—her first semi-solo sewing project) and no rosette. Totally worth it!

When was the last time that you made anything by following a tutorial word for word? I love seeing how crafters take my ideas and just fly with them by adding their own flavor and edits/changes. That's what creativity is all about. Then again, the flip side is that sometimes following instructions is more relaxing than coming up with new ideas. I lean towards the editing part. How about you?